Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Trump Is Considering Firing Mueller as Special Counsel?

Donald Trump. a/k/a Der Trumpenführer, seemingly learned nothing from his misguided firing of James Comey. Now, Christopher
Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media, a "news outlet" that specializes in right wing fake news (or, at best, wildly distorted news), says that Trump is considering firing Special Prosecutor, Robert Mueller. If Trump has nothing to hide - something I view as extremely unlikely - he certainly continues to act as if he knows that foul deeds and possible crimes will be discovered. He also seems to be utterly ignorant of the timeline of the Watergate scandal and that his acts appear as if they are emulating those of Richard Nixon. Acts that led to Nixon's resignation. A piece in the New York Times looks at this latest possible offense against democratic government by Der Trumpenführer. Here are excerpts:

A longtime friend of President Trump said on Monday that Mr. Trump was
considering whether to fire Robert
S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating possible ties
between the president’s campaign and Russian officials.

The startling assertion comes
as some of Mr. Trump’s conservative allies, who initially praised Mr. Mueller’s
selection as special counsel, have begun trying to attack his credibility.

The friend, Christopher
Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media, who was at the White House on
Monday, said on PBS’s “NewsHour” that Mr. Trump was
“considering, perhaps, terminating the special counsel.” “I think he’s weighing that
option,” Mr. Ruddy said.

His comments appeared to take
the White House by surprise.

Allies of the president cast doubt on the idea that Mr. Trump would
take such a drastic step, and White House officials said Mr. Ruddy had not met
directly with the president while he was there.

Firing Mr. Mueller would be
a politically explosive move that would raise new questions about Mr. Trump,
whose abrupt dismissal
of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director generated accusations of obstruction of
justice and led to Mr. Mueller’s appointment.

Under Justice Department rules, Mr. Trump would seemingly have to
order Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to rescind department
regulations protecting a special counsel from being fired for no good reason,
and then to fire Mr. Mueller. If Mr. Rosenstein refused, Mr. Trump could fire
him, too — a series of events that would recall the “Saturday Night Massacre”
during Watergate, when President Richard M. Nixon sought to dismiss a special
prosecutor, Archibald Cox.

White House officials
referred questions to Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc E. Kasowitz, as they
have recently on all matters relating to the Russia investigation. A spokesman
for Mr. Kasowitz declined to comment.

The
idea that the investigation is illegitimate and politically motivated has been
gaining currency on the political right for months. Conservative writers, radio
hosts and cable personalities — emboldened by the president himself, who has
called it a witch hunt — have repeatedly sought to discredit the inquiry, its investigators,
the mainstream news accounts of it, and the lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are
demanding more answers.Democrats accused Republicans on Monday of beginning a campaign to
smear Mr. Mueller’s reputation as he engages in a broad investigation that
could include whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice by pressuring Mr. Comey to
end parts of the inquiry and then by firing him.

Representative Adam B.
Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee,
scoffed at the idea that the president might fire Mr. Mueller.

The independent counsel
statute, passed after Watergate, allowed the appointment of a prosecutor who
would look into high-level executive branch wrongdoing and answer to a panel of
judges, and who could not be fired by the president, as Mr. Nixon sought to do.Congress let it lapse when it expired in 1999.

It would
take a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers of Congress to overcome Mr.
Trump’s likely veto of any similar legislation. It is far from clear that Mr.
Schiff’s proposal could command such support.

Trump is and always has been unfit for office. Worse yet, he thinks he is above the law. Should he fire Mueller, the Vichy Republicans will have nowhere to hide and will have to choose between a lawless autocrat and constitutional government. Given the nature of today's GOP, I cannot feel very warm and fuzzy about the choice they would make.

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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